Fruit packing accessory



March 17, 1936. D E. LOWER Er AL v 2,034,626

FRUIT PACKING ACCESSORY Filed April 8, 1933 Mgg@ Patented Mar. 17, 1936 FRUIT PACKING ACCESSORY Donald E. Lower, Aspers, Pa., and Michael Paul Roche, Baltimore, Md., assignors of one-fourth to Martha B. Lower, Aspers, Pa., and onefourth to Mary C. Roche, Baltimore, Md.

Application April 8, 1933, Serial No. 665,172

20 Claims.

The invention relates to the packing of fruits of various sorts in baskets or the like for convenience and safety in shipment.

It is well known that in the packing of fruit it is a common practice to provide a tray on which is placed the facing layer, usually of prime fruit, which layer is of course intended to be the top one when the basket or other container is opened. Also placed upon this tray is a shell open at both ends and within this shell it is customary to insert a liner of paper, cardboard or other suitable material for the purpose of cushioning the fruit against shocks and jars and consequent bruising during transportation or handling. The shell and liner having been placed in position, the fruit is illled in, and the shell is removed, after which the basket or other container is placed in inverted position over the iilled liner. The entire combination is then turned over so that the tray which was previously the bottom will be at the top and this tray is then removed so that the lid or cover may be placed on the container.

A diiculty encountered in this procedure is the necessity for more or less tucking the liner in place within the shell inasmuch as such liners have more or less of a natural tendency to collapse and are consequently difficult to place properly and rapidly against the inside of the shell. Liners of various types are used, some being simply inserted in more or less strip or sheet-like form and then pushed against the shell, the ends being then connected by some appropriate means, all of which is time consuming and annoying. It is with these objections in view that we have devised the present invention which has for its general object the provision of an accessory whereby a preformed liner may be simply and quickly engaged with the supporting tray so that the shell may be readily telescoped onto the liner in proper relation thereto preliminary to lling in the fruit, vegetables or any other similar commodities to be handled.

An important object of the invention is to provide a tray, for supporting the facing layer of fruit, equipped with means about which the liner is initially placed with ease even though the liner may be in a somewhat folded or at least contracted condition, the means carried by the tray' being operable to expand the preformed liner to its proper extent and at the same time draw it down into proper engagement or relation with the tray that the necessary shell may, as the next step, be. telescoped over the liner in close iitting relation thereto without, however, it being necessary to press the liner manually into place.

Another object is to provide an accessory of this charactr which may be lever operated and which will consequently require but the little 5 effort needed to swing the lever.

Another object is to provide a device of this character in which the parts are so constructed and arranged that while the liner will be drawn down properly into cooperative relation to the 10 tray there will be no danger of tearing or otherwise ldamaging the liner.

A further object is to provide a device of this character which involves remarkably few parts and which will consequently be simple and inl5 expensive to manufacture, not likely to get out of order, strong, durable, and a general improvement in the art.

To the attainment of the foregoing and other objects and advantages, the invention prefer- 20 ably consists in the details of construction and the arrangement and combination of parts tobe hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying `drawing in which: 25

Figure 1 is a vertical or longitudinal sectional view through the complete vassembly constructed in accordance with the invention, the preliminary position of the liner and gripping means therefor being shown by dot and dash lines and the nal 30 position being represented by solid lines,

Figure 2 is a plan view of what is shown in Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the tray showing the gripping or expanding means in elevated 35 or initial position,

Figure 4 is a cross section on a larger scale taken on the line 4 4 of Figure 2,

Figure 5 is a cross section taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4 and illustrating the character`40- Aof the` liner,

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a basket filled by the apparatus disclosed,

Figure '7 is a cross section showing a modified form vof the device, 45

Figure 8 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the link and yoke mechanism of the modified form, and

Figure 9 is a detail perspective view of one oi' the links alone. 50

Referring more particularly to the drawing it will be observed that the accessorycomprises, in the rst place, a supporting base or tray structure indicated as a whole by the numeral I0 and here shown as comprising an outerringmember 55 II which while it might be any one of selected shapes is conveniently of inverted L-shape in cross section with the edge of its upper ange directly outwardly and rolled or beaded at I2 for the sake of stiffness, an having the lower edge of its vertical flange braced as by a hoop I3 about which it is rolled. Suitably secured, as by welding or other means, within the connes of this ring II is a concavo-convex tray I4 upon which is to be placed the facing layer of fruit and which of course serves to support as a consequence .all of the fruit being packed into a given receptacle. To facilitate the proper positioning of the facing layer and to prevent the fruit or other articles from rolling about or becoming otherwise displaced, it is preferable to provide a stop or guide I5 which may simply be a short length of .angle bar riveted or otherwise secured upon the top surface of the tray IG at one edge thereof and extending radially.

The horizontal flange of the ring II serves as means for supporting the liner and shell to be described and for retaining these elements in proper relation to the base there is provided an upstanding ring I5 secured to the ring I I, substantially one half of this ring I6 being cut away or reduced in height and thickness as very clearly Vshownat Il in Figure 3, and the adjacent end portions of the uncutaway part being likewise reduced in thickness so as to define ears I8.

The collar or ring IB is intended for telescopically receiving the lower end of a liner I9 engaged exteriorly thereupon. In accordance with our invention it is intended that this liner be preformed, that is to say that it be initially prepared so as to be of an appropriate size to t within the shell 20 which is in turn telescoped on to it. As this liner is intended to serve as a protection for the fruit, vegetables or the like so as to pretoV vent them from becoming'bruised, it is highly preferable that the liner be constructed in corrugated form as such will be sufficiently yielding to prevent damage to the fruit when the cover of the receptacle is clamped down or secured tightly and during transportation or handling. Moreover a corrugated type of material will permit alimited expansion so as to avoidtearing when the liner is drawn down snugly into cooperative relation rto the supporting base or tray assembly.

'Ihe means for gripping, expanding and drawing down the liner, of course prior to engagement of the shell thereabout, is represented in the rst form of the invention, shown in Figures 1 to 4, as comprising a substantially semicircular yoke 2l which has its ends pivoted at 22 upon the ears I8 and which has its intermediate portion carryving a handle or lever 23 for manipulating purposes. Moreover this lever 23 has its intermediate portion preferably bent as at 24 to provide a catch or latch adapted to snap or frictionally engage beneath the rolled edge I2 of the horizontal iiange of the base ring II.

The use of the device is .as follows: The fruit to be displayed at what will eventually be the top of the container or receptacle used is iirst packed as a single layer in the desired arrangement upon the Ytray I4, the guide or stop I5 facilitating this operation. With the yoke 2l in elevated position as shown by dot and dash lines in Figure 1, or by full lines in Figure 3, the operator takes the liner I 9 which is probably originally folded, and opens it up sufficiently that one part of the lower edge thereof may be engaged about the uncutaway portion of the ring I6 andv so that the -diametrically opposite portion may be engaged exteriorly about the yoke 2 I. When the handle or lever 23 is the depressed the downward swinging movement of the yoke 2I upon its pivots 22 will, owing to the frictional engagement of the yoke with the liner, pull the latter downwardly toward the base Ill and at the same time cause the liner to expand properly so that it will telescope completely about the entire ring I6 and the yoke 2|. In view of the fact that when the lever 23 is in its lowermost positon the kinked latch portion 24 thereof engages over the rolled edge I2 it is quite apparent that the yoke 2|, and consequently the liner, cannot spring up from any cause and permit the liner to collapse. In view of the fact that the yoke 2I, which is of less thickness than the ring IIB, occupies the portion of the latter which is cut away in thickness it is clear that the assembled ring and yoke will form a complete and true circle and will maintain the liner in similar shape which, in actual practice, is generally frusto-conical. The liner having thus been expanded and drawn down, the shell 2D is 4placed about it to hold it in shape and prevent it from bursting, after which the remainder of the fruit to be placed within a container is filled into the space within the liner, and the shell is removed.

As the next step, the container which may be a basket of conventional type as shown at 25 in Figure 6, is inverted and placed over and about the liner. After this, the entire assembly should then be inverted or turned upside down and the base, which is then of course located at the top of the basket, is pulled away, leaving the liner I9 in position between the fruit or other articles and the basket. The filled container will then have the appearance shown in Figure 6 and Will be in condition to have the lid or cover applied and secured.

As a modification of the extremely simple general scheme above described, recourse may be had to the alternative construction illustrated in Figures '7 to 9 which dilfers from the iirst form in that it may be considered an added development of the basic idea and an advance in eiiiciency without, however, sacriiicing simplicity and ease of operation. In this modified form we provide a movable yoke or expanding member arrangement involving `a combination of rectilinear and swinging movements so as to obtain a more positive expanding action on the liner. This is accomplished by providing what may be considered a jointed yoke instead of the simple semicircular yoke of the rst described form.

In detail, this modication involves the provision of the same base structure previously described, equipped with the same concavo-convex facing layer supporting tray and in fact possessing substantially the same detailed construction. However, in this form, the upstanding collar or ring I6 has pivoted to its diametrically opposite ears I8, as shown at 2l, links 28 to which are in turn pivoted, at 2S, the ends of an arcuateyoke 3l) equipped with a handle 3l similar to the above described handle or hand lever 23. In the initial position, that is to say when the parts are readyY reduced portion 0f the collar I6, the yoke 30 com ISIS 2,034,626 ing down onto the supporting flange I2 of the base structure and into surrounding relation to the collar, as in the rst form. The details as to the exact relative thickness or cutting away of the collar, links and yoke might be varied, but the upper ends of the links 28 are shown as bifurcated at 33 for the reception of the ends of the yoke 30, as will be apparent from an inspection of Figures '7, 8, and 9, the idea being that there will be a slight clearance between the yoke and collar to facilitate passage of the yoke over the edge of the collar without danger of catching. When the yoke and links are in lowered position they will form continuations of one another so that there will be defined a substantially unbroken or true circle.

This form of the device is used in the same manner as the rst form, one portion of the liner being engaged with the uncutaway portion of the collar l5 and the opposite portion of the liner being engaged against the outside of the curved yoke 3G. In view of the fact that the links 28 extend vertically initially it is clear that they will be located within the confines of the liner so that there will be no danger of the liner catching on them, it being therefore unnecessary for the operator to press out or in any way touch the liner to guide it into place. The liner having been thus placed in its initial position, the operator grasps the handle 3l and pulls upon it whereupon the yoke 33 will move outwardly in a rectilinear direction and apply expanding pressure to the liner. Thereafter, the outward rectilinear movement of the yoke causes it as well as the links 28 to move downwardly, the frictional drag against the inner surface of the liner causing it to be brought down into its final position in snug telescoping relation upon the collar. It is preferable that the pivots 21 and 29 be out of vertical alinement as shown so as to obtain the proper sequence of relative movement of the yoke 3U and links 2B to bring about the smoothest and most efiicient action, that is to say, so that the yoke will move outwardly to expand the liner partially before it moves downwardly to seat it about the collar.

The principle involved in both forms and still others which might be conceived of, is of course the same and the utility is identically the same in both or still other possible instances, the only differences being a mere matter of mechanical construction of details of the operating means. It will be clear from an inspection of the drawing taken in conjunction with the foregoing description that we have provided a very simple device by means of which the work of packing fruit and other commodities of a more or less perishable nature may be greatly lessened, there being a manifest decrease in the length of time required and the effort and skill involved so that the work may be carried on at less cost.

From the above it is believed that the construction, operation and advantages will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art without further explanation.

While we have shown and described preferred embodiments of the invention, it should be understood that the disclosure is merely an exempliiication of the principles involved as the right is reserved to make all such changes in the details of construction as will widen the eld of utility and increase the adaptability of the device provided such changes constitute no departure from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

Having thus described the invention, we claim:

1. In a fruit and vegetable packing device, the combination of a supporting base having an upstanding collar, movable means carried by said base adapted to engage a flexible liner disposed about the collar, and means for moving said means to expand the liner and draw the same down into telescoping relation to the collar.

2. In a fruit packing device, a supporting base having an upstanding collar and further having an outstanding flange adapted to support a shell, means movably mounted on the base adapted to engage within a flexible liner, and means for moving said means to expand the same and draw it down about the collar and against the flange so that the liner will be capable of telescopically receivlng said shell.

3. A fruit packing device comprising a supporting base having an upstanding collar and an, outstanding supporting portion, means swingably mounted on the base and adapted to have a liner engaged exteriorly thereagainst, and means for swinging said movable means to expand the liner and draw the same down in surrounding relation to the collar.

4. A fruit packing accessory comprising a supporting base including a tray and having an upstanding collar adapted to receive a shell thereabout, a member swingably carried by the base: above the tray thereof adapted to engage a flexible liner disposable thereabout and about the collar, and means for moving said swingable member to expand and frictionally drag down the liner into embracing relation to the collar.

5. In a fruit packing apparatus, a supporting base including a tray and an upstanding collar, an arm member pivoted upon the collar above the tray adapted to engage a liner disposable exteriorly thereagainst and upon the collar, and. means for swinging the arm member outwardly and downwardly for expanding the liner and carrying it to a position entirely telescoping the collar.

6. In a fruit packing apparatus, a supporting base including a tray and an upstanding collar,

an arm member pivoted upon the collar above the tray adapted to engage a liner disposable exteriorly thereupon and upon the collar, means for swinging the arm member outwardly and downwardly for expanding the liner and carrying it to a position entirely telescoping the collar, and latch means for holding said arm in lowered position. v

'7. In a fruit packing apparatus, a supporting base structure including a tray and an upstanding collar concentric with the tray, and means pivotally connected with the base structure and adapted to engage interiorly of a liner for frictionally gripping the same and drawing it down in embracing relation to said collar.

8. In a fruit packing apparatus, a supporting base structure including a tray and an upstanding collar concentric with the tray, and means pivotally connected with the base structure and adapted to engage interiorly of a liner for frictionally gripping the same and drawing it down in embracing relation to said collar, lever means operatively connected with said pivoted means for moving the same.

9. In a fruit packing apparatus, a supporting base structure including a tray and an upstanding collar concentric with the tray, and means pivotally connected with the base structure and adapted to engage interiorly of a liner for frictionally gripping the same and drawing it down in embracing relation to said collar, lever means opmoving the same, and means on the lever means `cooperating with the basestructure for retaining said pivoted means in downwardly swung position within the confines of the liner.

'10. 'A fruit packing appliance comprising a. base structure having an outstanding supporting ange and an upstanding collar, a tray located withi'rithe confines of'and below the collar, and mechanical means for drawing a liner down onto said flange and about' said collar.

I1. A' fruit packing appliance comprising a base structure having an outstanding supporting flange andan upstanding collar,I a tray located within theY confines of and below the collar, mechanical means Yfor positioning "a liner about said collar with its lower edge upon said flange, said means .comprising a curved arm member pivoted at its ends upon the collar and disposable against the inside of a liner, and means connected with said curved arm orswl'nging the same downwardly and causing it to frictionally drag the liner into telescoping relation'about the col'lar.

12. A fruit packing appliance comprising a supporting base structure having ain outstanding flange and an upstanding collar, a dished tray located' within the confines oi'and below the collar,v acurved arm disposable in concentric relation lto aportion of the collar and having its lends pivoted thereto, said arm being adapted to engage 4within a liner initially engageable exteriorly ilpon and'againstV the opposite portion of th collar, and means for swinging the arm downwardlyfor friction'allyengaging, expanding and dragging down the liner into encircling relation to the collar with its edge at said flange.

13. A fruit packing device comprising a supporting base structure including a tray and an upstanding collar, a curved yoke having the ends of its arms movably connected with the collar and `adapted to have a liner engageable against the outside thereof, the liner also engaging against the outside of the opposite portion of the collar, said yoke having a combination of outward rectilinear and downward swingingl movement to exert expanding action upon the liner and to frictionally grip the same and draw it down about the collar.

14. A fruit packing accessory comprising a supporting base structure including a tray, and a collar located in concentric relation to the tray, links pivotally connected with the collar and swingable `from vertical to horizontal position, anda curved yoke having'the ends of its arms pivoted to said links, said yoke and the opposite portion of the collar being adapted to be engaged by the lower end of a flexible liner, and said yoke being movable radially outwardly and swingable together with said links downwardly for expanding the liner and irictionally dragging it down into position' about the collar.

15. A packing appliance comprising a base having a vguide portion thereon adapted to have a liner disposed thereagainst, and means downwardly swingably and rectilinearly movably mounted on the base and engageable with the interior of the liner for holding the latter taut uponthe base.

16. A packing accessory comprising a base adapted to support a liner, and means mcvably mounted on the base and engageable with the interior of the liner `for holding the same said means having a combined downwardly swingable vand rectilinear movement.

17; A packing accessory comprising a supporting tray adapted to have a liner disposed thereupon, and 'means inovably' mounted on the tray for gripping; expanding and drawing down the liner thereonto.

18. Apacking appliance comprising a support having an upstanding portion thereon adapted to have aliner telescoped thereonto, and means located within the coniines of the liner and swingrespect to the liner 'for drawing the same down d into engagement with thevv support'and the guide. 20. 'A packing appliance comprising a support having a guide thereon adaptedto be telescopically engaged'by aV liner, means pivotally supporti,

ed with respect to the support and movable in an arcuate path toward the support for frictional engagement with the interior surface of the liner for drawing the saine down onto the support, and means for holding said means against movement.

DONALD E. LOWER. MICHAEL PAUL ROCHE. 

